The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friends in Christ,

In today's Gospel reading (St. Luke 7. 11-16), we see that Jesus is moved to mercy towards a widowed mother on the way to bury her only son. Jesus brings the dead young man back to life and gives him to his mother.

Interestingly, Jesus is recorded as having mercy towards the widowed mother, not the dead young man. The gift of life was for the mother rather than for the son. God had given this woman her son twice — once when she conceived and gave birth and again after he had died. The son was twice a gift from God to the mother.

However, it seems that the son benefitted more than the mother on both occasions. The grace (gift) of life was his not because of any merit or worthiness on his part but because of his mother's prayers and merits. It seems that this is probably the situation more often than not. The graces we receive are because of the prayers and sacrifices of others.

Children are given life from God but placed in the hands of their parents. The prayers for ourselves are frequently blemished with selfishness, but when our prayers are for others, the motivation is more likely to be purer love. There is a greater benefit or reward for us when others take our situation in hand and pray to God for us, rather than when we directly approach God on our own behalf.

This goes contrary to the thoughts of many who are influenced by Protestant ideology. Seeking and obtaining the intercessory prayers of others here on earth, especially the Blessed Mother, angels, and saints in Heaven, is a surer way of currying God's favor.

Asking others to pray for us implies that we should, likewise, pray for others. Fairness and charity demand a kind of reciprocity. It has been recorded that missionaries often attributed their success in the missions to the prayers and sacrifices of the cloistered religious hidden away from the world. Converts received the grace of faith earned or merited by people far away, hidden and unknown. The missionaries were seen and often praised for their part, but they quickly let everyone know that there are hidden hands that God uses.

We are often reminded of our duties to the Poor Souls in Purgatory, and we pray and offer sacrifices for them so that they may be relieved of some of their sufferings. The number of sacrificing and praying cloistered religious in the world has been woefully diminished. The lack of True Faith in the world is attributable to the scarcity of prayer and sacrifice for one another. There is a lack of dedicated religious vocations praying for the conversion and salvation of others. How many pray and sacrifice for the increase of priestly and religious vocations?

We are in a downward spiral. Few pray for priests and religious. So, there are fewer and fewer faithful priests and religious. Priests and religious likewise fail to pray for others. So, there are fewer and fewer who persevere or convert to the True Faith. We may even venture to say that very few pray for the Poor Souls in Purgatory. With no charity in our hearts for others, we merit no love from others. Not even the saints in Heaven are inclined to intercede for such self-centered, proud, and vain people.

How can we break this cycle? We have no control over the charity in the hearts of others, but we can nurture and develop true charity in our hearts. Let us daily lift our spirits in prayer to God for the conversion and salvation of sinners, for an increase of priestly and religious vocations, as well as for the relief of the sufferings of the Poor Souls in Purgatory. We should strive to bear our daily crosses for the love of God and our fellow brothers and sisters in this world and Purgatory. Prayer and sacrifice motivated by true charity is the solution.

God is much more inclined to hear our prayers for others because they are not self-seeking. We imitate Jesus more perfectly as we deny ourselves and seek the good of others. The Protestant idea of refusing the aid of spiritual intercessors is causing the loss of souls. The solution is to begin immediately our efforts to charitably intercede before God for others and ask others to pray for us. We will lose nothing because what we lovingly do for others, we do for ourselves. Our salvation is not only our own work but also the united work of many.

email: father@friarsminor.org Franciscan Benefactor Seraph Subscription Vocations Have you remembered God?

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